New venture provides home to struggling entrepreneurs

By Crissa Shoemaker DeBreeStaff writer

Sunday

Oct 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2011 at 3:30 AM

Go ahead, Mike Krupit tells visitors. Write on the wall.

At Novotorium, such rule breaking is welcome.

After all, there’s no better way to foster entrepreneurship and stimulate business development than thinking outside the box. And that’s exactly what Novotorium, a new business accelerator program in Langhorne, was formed to do.

“What holds most people back is getting stuck in their comfort zone,” said Novotorium leader Krupit. “I’ve honed my skills in pushing people out of their comfort zone.”

Novotorium will provide advice, mentoring, office space and supplies and, in some cases, funding to up to 12 small technology-based businesses a year.

Unlike most business incubators — which typically help very early stage companies launch their businesses — Novotorium targets entrepreneurs who’ve already started their companies, but need help taking them to the next level, Krupit said.

“There’s this new breed of entrepreneur who’s a professional, who started a business because they had a passion or a financial need or they wanted to control their own destiny,” he said. “They’ve put in the work. Then they got stuck.”

Novotorium is part of and funded by the Baron Innovation Group, parent company of communications firms Voice Systems Engineering and Vector 180. It shares its offices on Wheeler Way in Langhorne with both companies.

Krupit said he’s helped develop a number of startups. He most recently was chief innovation officer at Voice Systems Engineering. He held that position for five years, while also mentoring entrepeneurs.

“Things were going really well,” he said. “I had a great team. I was delegating to them. There was nothing left for me.”

That’s when he approached Gary Baron, president and CEO of the Baron Innovation Group, with the idea for Novotorium.

“I have an entrepreneurial spirit since an early age. It’s part of my fiber,” Baron said. “Doing something like Novotorium meant a lot of possible opportunities out there. It created an environment where, besides mentoring and moving people along, there could be that opportunity for investment.”

Businesses that sign up with Novotorium will receive at least three months of free mentoring and other services. They’ll be required to work out of Novotorium’s offices and collaborate with other tenants there. The program can last up to 18 months.

In addition to helping businesses succeed, Novotorium’s goal is also to invest in some of the most promising businesses, Krupit said. Those investment decisions will be made after the initial three months, after both Novotorium and the business gets to know each other, he said.

“Part of the whole concept is a work in progress,” Baron said. “While we have some structure, we have a lot of flexibility and looseness, to not be so rigid that we miss opportunities. It’s evolving.”

Krupit said 10 businesses have expressed interest in Novotorium’s services but it has not yet signed up any clients. It will hold an official launch party on Tuesday.

“These companies aren’t easy to find,” Krupit said. “That’s our challenge and our secret sauce. These guys aren’t part of the clubs. They don’t have the time or the knowledge of the money.”

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